The Apple in the Lake
by HeartOnTheWindow
Summary: Lindsay has always been drawn to Lake Catherine. She spends an unusual amount of time there but can't figure out why. Then, one day, after a fight with her mom, she sees something that changes her life forever. Oneshot.


**Alright, I'm feeling REALLY proud of myself, because this is the first story I've ever been able to finish (sad, I know...) but still! Anyways, tell me what you think!  


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She'd always thought of it as a gift.

Lindsay had been walking around the edge of the lake, just thinking. She'd been there, what? Two, three hours? Lake Catherine always gave her a sense of peace, no matter how bad her mood was. And boy, was she in a bad mood.  
She sat down and thought about what had happened. Lindsay and her mom had gotten into fight back at home. The fight had been about the lake. It was_ always_ about the lake.

**Flashback**

"It's not healthy for you to be spending so much time at the lake! Why don't you go out and spend some time with some of the other girls? Do something with other people for once! Be a little more social with the kids at school," her mom had said exasperatedly.

"Mom, I don't WANT to hang out with the other kids! I've told you that so many times! Plus, I love going to Lake Catherine. I don't know why, but I feel attached to that lake and I would rather spend my time there than with any kid from school," replied Lindsay defiantly. She and her mother had had this argument hundreds of times. Why couldn't she just get it?

"Wait, are those kids making fun of you at school? Is that why you're refusing to make friends?" asked her mom suspiciously.

"NO! Mom, they're not mean to me; I just don't want to hang out with them!"

"Then tell me, Lindsay, why you refuse to even _talk _to anyone else your age!"

Lindsay had to think for a moment. "…I don't know. I guess I just don't like the games they play."

Her mom sighed. "This is silly. I want you to go to at least ONE girl your age and start up a conversation."

"No, Mom! I'm going to the lake and there's nothing you can do about it!" yelled Lindsay.

Lindsay's mom grabbed her arm tightly. "Lindsay, you will listen to me NOW! Or I will make sure that you never go to the lake again," her mother said dangerously, her eyes firing up with impatience and anger.

Lindsay wrenched her arm free and ran to the front door. She opened the door and was about to step outside when she turned around and said something she knew she would regret saying later:

"Sometimes I wish you weren't my mother."

She only looked at her mother for a second (enough time to see her mother's eyes widen slightly) but then ran off. Lindsay ran in the direction of Lake Catherine but then stopped after a while.  
'Should I really go?' she thought to herself. But the thought passed and Lindsay continued running. And that was how she ended up walking around the banks of the infamous Lake Catherine.

**End**

Lindsay knew why her mom worried about her being by the lake. It wasn't because of her lack of friends.  
It was because many cases of drowning and disappearance had happened in the last 100 years or so, involving the lake. In fact, the reason it is called Lake Catherine is because the first person ever to have died was a young girl named Catherine. In the beginning, they were considered accidents. However, after a while, people started to notice that even though the victims had drowned, they left no trace behind. No footsteps, no DNA, no anything.

The most recent case was a little African boy named Madzimoyo. He had been playing around the lake with his older sisters. They had turned around for only a minute when they heard a splash. They had immediately jumped to their feet and the younger of the two had jumped into the lake, searching for Madzimoyo. But they couldn't find him. Even though the sister had jumped in a few seconds after he had fallen, they couldn't find him. Neither could the police or anyone else. This happened 18 years ago.

Lindsay sat down, her hands around her knees. There was something peculiar about these cases, something that she couldn't put her finger on. She'd read about them several times in the public library and examined the photographs but Lindsay couldn't figure it out. She tucked a string of her hair behind her ear.

"I guess I should go home and face Mom before Dad gets home," she murmured under her breath. Lindsay knew her dad would make an even bigger deal out of this than her mother.

She got up to leave. She had taken two steps when she heard a small splash of water. Lindsay turned around and walked back to the spot where she was just at. Something was floating up to the surface of the lake. Lindsay stared in disbelief at the object as it surfaced.

It was a golden apple.

Even when it rose above the surface and bobbed around, Lindsay didn't pick it up or even touch it. She stared at it for what seemed like a long time, trying to figure out why it was there.  
'It doesn't look fake…how did it even get here? Why does it surface now?...Maybe I should leave…'

Instead, Lindsay reached her left arm out and was about to pull out the apple when something grabbed her wrist. Lindsay gasped slightly and only had a moment to stare at what held on to her; a small, dark hand; when she was pulled into the water.

The water was cold and murky, but Lindsay could still see who -or what- was pulling her. A young boy, probably seven or eight, with dark skin and hair. She'd almost gasped again but was managed not to. The boy was guiding her through the water at a very fast pace but he didn't seem to be swimming at all. How was he even able to breathe? She tried to pull away, but the boy's grasp was too tight and he kept pulling her lower and lower. After a minute of being tugged through the water, Lindsay couldn't hold her breath any longer and slowly exhaled. She felt the water fill up her lungs and stopped struggling. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, the little boy turned around to face her, still keeping his grip.

Lindsay looked in the boy's eyes and felt her own widen. This boy had the most unusual eye color. They were a yellow-golden color; much like the apple she'd seen only a few moments ago. His eyes looked like…well, they looked like her own. She realized, in her last few moments, what was so particular about all the drowning victims. They'd all had the same color eyes! That was Lindsay's last thought before she lost consciousness and everything went black.

Eventually, Lindsay woke up from her sleep. She didn't know how long her sleep had lasted, whether it had been five minutes or five hours. Lindsay had learned a lot in her dreamless sleep.

The little boy who pulled her down was the last sacrifice, Madzimoyo, the little African boy who'd drowned 18 years ago. 18 years ago, to the very day, in fact. In her sleep, she heard Madzimoyo's young voice telling her this; telling her the history of Lake Catherine. She knew that every 18 years, the lake's spirit needed a new sacrifice to keep it alive. Each and every sacrifice had certain qualities that made them stand out. For one, each sacrifice had been drawn to the lake, some way or another. Not only that, but each of the victims had the same yellow-golden eyes. This time, the lake had chosen her.

Lindsay also realized why Madzimoyo had pulled her under. A person could not be a spirit if he or she was alive, now could they? Along with drowning her and tying her to the lake, Madzimoyo's own soul was free to rest.

She looked at her surroundings, all the plants and underwater algae swaying lightly around her. Lindsay found that she did not have to breathe. She sat there, not inhaling nor exhaling, looking up at the sun shining down through the surface of the water.  
Lindsay suddenly stood up on the rocky ground and started to float upwards. She didn't have to swim or move any part of her body. She rose above the surface without making any type of splash or disturbing the water in any way. She looked around. Everything seemed exactly as she left it. Could it be that no time had passed before she'd drowned?

She noticed something to her right. The golden apple was still floating in the water. Lindsay extended her arm and picked it up. There was no doubt that apple's color was natural and had not been painted or colored on. It was very smooth, as all apples are, and no bruises or imperfections. This was used to draw the next sacrifice towards the water.

Lindsay, still holding the apple, glided downwards and was back on the lake's floor in no time. She sat down and placed the apple next to her. It didn't move.  
Lindsay looked up at the surface and the sun shining so nicely down on her.  
"I told you, Mom; I'm really attached to Lake Catherine."

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**Author's Note: I know the names are a little weird, but the names "Lindsay" and "Madzimoyo" both have something to do with water/lakes (or so I read). Plus, I wrote this story in the space of two days. :P  
Comment and tell me what you think! **


End file.
